Iraq Study Group Report

[SSG Rock]

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Such an air of defeatism has seeped into the American psyche that it's just, I don't know. It's just disappointing. Somehow I had held out some hope that a group of experienced, elder statesmen could tell us something we didn't already know.

No, there is no "magic" formula that will turn Iraq around overnight. To expect that is completely unrealistic and a false premise. It isn't rocket science. What we need in Iraq, is a demonstration of American resolve to the world. I don't know why we can't seem to manage that, politics I suspect. But I think that a display of American resolve would turn the momentum around to our side. The insurgents are winning the all important propaganda war, America knows that the insurgents fight for the television cameras, and yet somehow, America perceives that we are losing this fight when we are at least maintaining a stalemate and if we would get serious about it, we could put this insurgency down.

[UCrawford]

You know, I don't think it's so much a case of Americans losing their resolve to fight. There were a lot of people who enlisted in the military right after 9/11. That's not a sign of a cowardly people. You don't hear as much criticism about our mission in Afghanistan as you do about Iraq. And there isn't a lot of call for us to leave the Afghani mission, in fact I hear more people in favor of Afghanistan than opposing it. It seems to me that the problems have less to do with a lack of stomach for fighting a war on the peoples' part and more to do with a lack of competence in fighting the war on our elected leadership's part. Nobody likes backing a losing team...and it seems that most of the reasons for our difficulties start and stop with the upper management. When I hear Bush, or Rumsfeld, or Cheney sitting back and talking about us losing our will to fight it bothers me because that feels more like they're externalizing blame than anything else. Strategy and tactics have more to do with winning or losing a war than public unhappiness does.

[SSG Rock]

You know what? At this point, who knows? You could be exactly right. Although in some of the liberal discussion boards, I do see as much bashing of the Afghanistan mission as I do Iraq, but the public at large, your right.

I wonder if it matters anymore?

[SWJED]

I've already started updating tomorrow's SWJ Daily News page. Will be adding additional ISG related material tonight and in the morning...

[jcustis]

I'm already getting the sense (after a cursory glance through the ISG's report) that the administration would have been better served reading through the threads of the SWC, and could have saved the $1 mil to better train and fund MiTTs

[Culpeper]

I'm afraid the report itself is a mistake to be made public in such a manner. The BGs are going to step up their attacks. This type of reporting works in their favor and not our's. Someone give me a handgun so I can shoot myself in the foot. I find it ironic that this group is making the same sort of mistake that they claim is causing such choas. These statesmen apparently know as much about counterinsurgency effort as the rest of the politicians.

[Jimbo]

Wow, I totally agree with Culpepper. As far as will, don't confuse national will, with the will of members of the military. U.S. national will is definately being tried, but nobody knows where it is at because the self-licking ice cream cone that is the media confuses the issue too much.